Captain Carlos C. (Doc) Alden
Distinguished Member of the Regiment
NAME: Carlos Coolidge (Doc) Alden
ASN: O-381690
PLACE OF BIRTH: Buffalo, NY
DATE OF BIRTH:
DATES OF SERVICE:
UNIT ASSIGNED:
HQ 504th Parachute Battalion
HQ 2nd Battalion, 503rd Parachute Infantry Regiment
HQ 2nd Battalion, 509th Parachute Infantry Regiment
HQ 509th Parachute Infantry Battalion
CAMPAIGNS: Algeria - French Morocco, Tunisia, Naples-Foggia, Rome - Arno, Southern France, Ardennes - Alsace, Rhineland
AWARDS: Distinguished Service Cross, Silver Star Medal, Legion of Merit, Parachutist Badge with three combat jump stars, Combat Medic Badge, EAME Campaign Medal with arrowhead and six campaign stars, WWII Victory Medal, Distinguished Unit Citation, French 3rd Zouaves Regiment Badge
SUMMARY OF SERVICE: Capt.
His career as a surgeon began in 1933 when he decided that he wanted to become a doctor and, after transferring to Hamilton College, he received his M.D. in 1939.
CPT Alden’s life in the Army began in 1941 when he accepted a commission
00 Feb 42 - 1st Lt. Carlos C. Alden O-381690 HQ 504th PIB Asst. Battalion Surgeon Buffalo NY Feb-42
08 Nov 42 - Capt. Carlos C. Alden O-381690 D Co 2nd Bn 509th PIR Buffalo NY 8-Nov-42 Plane 6 Seat 1 Combat Weight 251 lbs
00 Sep 43 - Captured
05 Dec 43 - Capt. Carlos C. Alden 5-Dec-43 GO 121 HQ Fifth Army Award of Silver Star Silver Star page 383 book Stand in the Door by Charles H. Doyle
27 Jan 1944 - Distinguished Service Cross, General Orders: Headquarters, Fifth U.S. Army, General Orders No. 133 (August 8, 1944)
(Citation Needed) - SYNOPSIS: Captain (Medical Corps) Carlos C. Alden, Jr., United States Army, was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross for extraordinary heroism in connection with military operations against an armed enemy while serving with the 509th Parachute Infantry Regiment, in action against enemy forces near Anzio, Italy on 27 January 1944. Captain Alden voluntarily attached himself to a company advancing across open terrain in a dangerous assault on two enemy-held houses. He exposed himself to machine gun fire to aid the wounded. Several days later he repeated his heroic acts in another similar assault. Prior to Anzio, he was the battalion surgeon for a parachute battalion making the first parachute mission on the invasion of Africa. In another parachute mission behind German lines, he was captured and then escaped. He also participated in the Battle of the Bulge and was again taken as prisoner and escaped.
20 May 44 - Capt. Carlos C. Alden 20-May-44 GO 42 Natousa Award of Legion of Merit Legion of Merit page 385 book Stand in the Door by Charles H. Doyle
08 Aug 44 - Capt. Carlos C. Alden 8-Aug-44 GO 133 HQ Fifth Army Award of Distinguished Service Cross DSC page 383 book Stand in the Door by Charles H. Doyle
00 Dec 44 - Captured
Capt. Carlos C. Alden Jr. HHC 509th PIB Battalion Surgeon North Africa, Italy, Bastogne page 77 book First Airborne Task Force by Michel De Trez
Capt. 0-381690, 509 * * * NY, Captured at Avellino, Italy, September 1943 Held by Germany, Escaped with Gordon Hahn, Denzel Brittain and Philip L. Tex Wilson, Area 72 European Theatre: Germany
Captain Cool -- had six hair raising escapes form German captivity - Author, William B. Brewer
NARA POW Record
| SERIAL NUMBER | O&381690 | O&381690 |
| NAME | ALDEN CARLOS C JR | ALDEN CARLOS C JR |
| GRADE, ALPHA | CAPT | Captain or Asst. superintendent of nurses or Asst. director of nurses or Chief dietitian or Chief physical therapy aide |
| GRADE CODE | E | Captain or Lieutenant |
| SERVICE CODE | 1 | ARMY |
| ARM OR SERVICE | INF | Infantry |
| ARM OR SERVICE CODE | 10 | INF: INFANTRY |
| DATE REPORT: DAY (DD) | 09 | 09 |
| DATE REPORT: MONTH (MM) | 07 | 07 |
| DATE REPORT: YEAR (Y) | 5 | 1945 |
| RACIAL GROUP CODE | 1 | WHITE |
| STATE OF RESIDENCE | ||
| TYPE OF ORGANIZATION | ||
| PARENT UNIT NUMBER | ||
| PARENT UNIT TYPE | ||
| AREA | 72 | European Theatre: Germany |
| LATEST REPORT DATE: DAY (DD) | 16 | 16 |
| LATEST REPORT DATE: MONTH (MM) | 01 | 01 |
| LATEST REPORT DATE: YEAR (Y) | 6 | 1946 |
| SOURCE OF REPORT | 1 | Individual has been reported through sources considered official. |
| STATUS | 8 | Returned to Military Control, Liberated or Repatriated |
| DETAINING POWER | 1 | GERMANY |
| CAMP | ||
| REP | ||
| POW TRANSPORT SHIPS |
LTG William Yarborough claimed CPT Alden was “the most gallant paratrooper doctor of them all.”
LTG James Gavin, the wartime commander of the 82nd, declared CPT Alden to be “the bravest of the brave and, with that, a splendid combat doctor.”
BOOK: Captain Cool - Paratrooper Legend by William B. Breuer. Some of the accounts you will read about is: A motorcycle dash through 30 miles behind enemy lines, an escape from captivity by sliding four floors down a rope, being the only American paratrooper to reach the Airborne objective on D-Day in North Africa, prowling repeatedly through and behind enemy lines at hot-spot Anzio beachhead, being trapped for five days and nights with no food or water in an attic with SS troops in the floor below, sneaking into Messina, Sicily (crammed with 40,000 Axis troops) to beat General Patton’s spearheads when they fought their way into the city, and flying in five hazardous A-20 bomber raids as a “stowaway bombardier.” (William B. Breuer, Captain Cool! Paratrooper Legend: Doc Alden’s Amazing War Exploits (St. Louis, Missouri: Zeus Publishers, 1982), cover.)
Retired from the Air Force Reserves as a Colonel
Worked as a Psychiatrist at Buffalo Memorial Hospital
14 Jan 1994 - Passed away. Buried at Forest Lawn Cemetery, Buffalo, NY
Click here for more family photos - webpage created and photos provided by Carlos C Alden, III
